DIY Hat and Hair decoration thanks to Dollar Tree

Getting ready to go out can sometimes mean taking it to the next level. Recently I attending a car tour with my husband and decided to wear my favorite dress. I needed some accessories though. I decided to wear my straw hat , but I really didn’t think the flowers on it matched the dress much less anything in my wardrobe.  So I hit the local Dollar Tree and picked up a couple of bunches of orange and white flowers, a headband , and some ribbons. I spent $5 and ended up with extras after the fact.

Anyway, here is my quick hat fix and headband

1 roll of grossgrain ribbon is usually more than $1 so I was happy to find 5/8” ribbon in white.

1 very plain straw hat, I removed the old blue and ivory bud flowers

My hot  glue gun doesn’t see near as much time as it use to but sure comes in handy when I need to do something quick.

I lined the end of the ribbon up on the patch where the previous flowers were to cover up the left over bits.

I placed the first flower and worked out from there.

I added 3 more flowers in white and orange to balance it out.

The finished product. I love the over the top flowers on the simple straw hat.  Read through the rest of the article to see me in the hat.

Now, I knew I would have 2 events to attend the weekend I made the hat for so I decided to mix it up a bit and do simple headband while I was at it.

I  decided to go with an orange headband to keep it a little more subtle instead of the bright white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took 1 flower off its stem and flattened it the best I could, then a bit of hot glue and attached it to the headband.

A quick and easy  headband  and I’m ready to go. I like it simple and easy, and simple feminine touches can make such a difference.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The organized coupons

I've said it before I'm not an extreme couponer. I am what I like to call a necessity couponer,  I coupon because I can't afford not to.

small accordian file (not so good)

larger accordian file

That said, I have been in search a system to organize my coupons.  I tried the binder concept and found I fumbled with it too much and it seemed bulky and akward. I did a small accordian file that turned out to be well, small. Next I tr ied a longer accordian fils with more pockets, and that didn't seem to work either. So, this morning I decided to try one more idea....a coupon box.

Creative Memories Mini Power Sort Box
turned coupon sorter box = Success!

I dug out an extra Creative Memories Power Sort Box and 18 divider tabs and went to work.My power sort box is the older style so I don't have the lid for the compartments (I think those would have just gotten in my way).
I stumbled across a a wonderful blog, The Q-tipping Mom, where she shared a set of labels for coupon binders printed on Avery return address labels (Avery # 42895). Since I had a package of labels I printed off a set.  Nathan and I stuck labels to dividers and began resorting and purging expired coupons.

In afternoon we put the box to the test! Walmart.... The box sits perfectly in the child seat of a cart and I left space in the box for my wallet and phone. I think I've found my couponing system. The only thing I need to add is a small notebook for my list (either that or use the list features on my phone)  I even added a tab for restaraunts and used a coupon for pizza.


I have a pile of coupons to cut and sort into the box for the next trip. I think this is going to work really well for me...
For those of you that use the binder system with success I'm glad that works for you... I tried and it didn't work... This system is going to work for me, I think I am even going to make a crocheted carrying bag for it just for something to do...

DIY: Shoe repair

I didn't think about blogging this until I was half done so picture are limited.
Last year I got an adorable pair of ballerina flats with buttons at Payless shoes.



I wore them maybe a dozen times and them broke the button off one of the shoes.. I thought about cutting the straps off but they didn't stay on as well so I put them away thinking I would try and fix them someday.. Well, today was that someday. I dug around and found some white elastic thread, 2 matching seashell buttons, and a plastic canvas needle and went to work.

 

The design of the shoes is cute and functional which in my world says a lot for shoes.. I don't have small feet , they always seem to be puffy so I try to find cute and comfortable... These fit the bill perfectly.. The big white button was simple and feminine and also more fragile then I thought. I found 2 white seashell buttons in my box of buttons and proceed to sew the button back on the shoe. I still think they are feminine and since they are now fixed they are once again functional. Might even wear them this weekend to the Bloggy Boot Camp in Seattle... Definitely more comfortable them heels... We will see.